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This is a C.B.C. podcast conversation documentary personalities the Sunday edition

presents a rich blend of stories to enlighten and contemplate every week join host
Michael Dunn write for original intelligent and sometimes funny perspectives. Slash
the Sunday edition for more. And welcome. This is an unreserved on C.B.C. Radio
One. I'm Rosanna dear child. Today on Radio indigenous twenty five years and I still
can do that. I don't know maybe I just don't have that kind of rhythm in my hips
Dallas' are good is a world champion hoop dancer shares what this beautiful and
difficult dance means and our indigenous reads book panel reconvenes to talk about
our last part prose part poetry this story takes us deep into territory. The places that
she was describing I could almost feel how those places feel you know I felt like I
wasn't in a big rush to actually physically go there on the Canada Reads a short list.
Here's a hint. One of them was a guest on our show and her first name rhymes with a
ballerina. Well sort of but first we're heading back to school. That boy cute. They
are unique kindergarten classes that hold special meaning for. Very young students
are learning Anishinaabe A and creed this year at Isaac Brock school in Winnipeg the
program that started just a few months ago is about much more than language. It's
about culture identity and for one teacher about honoring her father. Let's say our
minds than it did that he said the same Minnesota piece and my name is Miss so
meant the language teacher for the school division gave me Sen our curriculum is
based on the thirteen once on the turtles back I'm going to give you a shout out
demonstrate in English. Basically there's the show on the turtles back each show
represents the moons and the animals that are active during that time and each of them
will get a picture and they'll be able to say the word in a language and place it in the
it's on the turtles moon. OK. And I've always thought that culture and language go
hand in hand when those things come together in a classroom you see wonderful
things happening. The kids can say simple phrases to their parents when they go
home or if I say at the end of the day where are you going. They would reply. I'm
going home. Nicky won in the language. Could you introduce yourself. Hi My name
is Kylie. I'm a creep and my name my name is Kyle His name is Kingston murder
came I put on a program because I figured I said I think it's for me and it's essential
for him an integral part of his upbringing and his education because we're losing
language and. For me I'm fifty two years old and I had to retake my lines over high
school I went to university and took the creating Which into one of two. I think it's

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extremely crucial that the children are related or nearly five years old and he comes
home every day we talk about work for the day I'm just so so the word overwhelmed
with the fact that this program has been introduced into the schools today because it
gives me hope that that the children carry on their in their bitter. Part of their culture
with the language and future it sixteen per cent for for them to learn the language. It's
a part of who we are and I think it's it's it's vital to find out to us it just just for the fact
it's an identity thing you know to lose it would be a travesty. Yes. Nice little moved
most men look what does that mean that mean scissors. I think they're what makes it
challenging is that our words in the language are longer blue isn't for written in four
letters in the English language and in the Korean language we have nine. Supect our
When I do the sentence writing I break down the word for it than we did a unit on
panic. It's as you can see it's one long word. Bad. I break it up into sections where
the suit students can read a sentence here and under this word whether what am I
doing here near me. He beat me to me. Apple made an apple crisp and better than
the. Means by his second I think it's important to teach the Korean language in the
classroom. Considering what had happened in the past with their. Aboriginal people
in the meadow regarding residential school. My dad was a residential school Survivor
and as a student he was unable to speak and learn about his culture in the school and I
told him that I would honor my teaching career to him this. In this classroom to teach
about the Korean Korean language and the culture in his honor as a residential school
survivors. And I know it meant something in his heart because he looked really happy
and you can see in it it's ice that it was an honor to him to hear that to know that there
are students out there that are learning the language at a very young age made that.
Thanks Isaac Brock school in the Winnipeg school division for inviting us into their
classroom and the C.B.C.'s Margo walk for putting that together. Now I want to hear
from you. How is indigenous language being taught in your community. If you have
a story to share get in touch with us. Rightists at unreserved at C.B.C. dot ca. If you
haven't heard yet the shortlist for Canada Reads is out. You can follow along at
C.B.C. Books dot ca. The five books in the running are fifteen dogs by Andrea Lexus
in a stall job by the songy company town by Madeline Ashby and two books that we
featured right here on on reserves. The break by Katherina Vermette which was our
very first pick for Indigenous reads When I talk to her about the book she explained
feeling like she was bearing witness to the tragedies her characters faced in her novel.

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I asked her why she felt compelled to do that because it happened because it's
happening because none of these these things that happen in the that I write a boat are
unrelated to what the real life there. I again I make up these stories it's fiction I'm not
taking from anyone's life but they're Kompas it's of so many stories that I know and it
happens. And that's the sad part you know I mean it's sad to write about it and I felt
very sad. After writing about it but it's how traumatizing is it to live with that and
having to live with that having to go through that that's that's the real struggle. And I
think that the way I because I'm talking about a violent incident but I didn't want to
leave people there. What I'm talking about is also how you get out of that and how
you go and what you do to survive because people are victimized there and then they
become survivors. I want to talk about that process because that's an amazing process
way that people are at once so capable of taking care of each other how families are
so strong in their units but you can't just say oh a bunch of bad things happen to them
in their past because people don't understand people don't understand what it's like to
not be able to walk around your neighborhood or have all of your friends having a
molestation story in their childhood. You know that if if I. If people don't understand
that you have to show that I was but that's what books are supposed to do they're
supposed to show that. Author Katherina Vermette talking about how she dealt with a
difficult subject matter in her first novel the break. It's in the running for the Canada
Reads title. And the fifth and final book on the list comes from you know activist and
author C low water. In her memoir the right to be cold. She talks about going south
to school and how it took years for her to make the trip home to KUSA walk again in
her book. Celia writes about being surprised by how quiet it was. I think you know
when I was sent away at the age of ten. I didn't come home in the winter for five
years so I wasn't able to come home and Christmas time so I never saw winter at
home for five years and when I came home. Finally there was that silence or that
quiet as you were saying and the dogs were gone. And but everything was nobody
talked about them and because I was a teenager. You know with my own priorities
that the time you know rock and roll and all the rest of it was coming into play. I just
never asked really what had happened and of course there was silence. Nobody spoke
about these issues until I was away well into my adult hood and I was getting
involved in politics with my cubic Corp in new Novick and. I started to hear the story
about the dog slaughters that had happened and then it all made sense to me that that

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was the period I was away those five years that this was happening where for
whatever reasons you know that the authorities that were in power at the time killed
many many of our dog teams. You know the reasons behind them was because of
health reasons because of dangerous dogs and untied dogs and so on but really we if
we if you read you know my book you would understand at that time that was one of
the what we call the historical traumas of you know that really negatively impacted
our men in particular when the dogs were killed off and there was no more mode of
transportation to go out and hunt. And I think that was really the beginning of the
end. That was from a conversation she had was Sheila Rogers on the next chapter for
more on Canada Reads head to C.B.C. Books dot ca and while we're on the topic of
books a little later in the show our book panelists talk about. A beautiful first time
novel by Niamey Fontaine part prose and poetry this small but powerful book takes
the reader to a new territory in northeastern come back. I find it. This entire book
about an exploration of identity and I think that is an indigenous woman I am
definitely in a place of trying to figure out who and what and where and why and I
think that we're all in this place and we really just a loud me to explore that further
and it's it allows for laughter and a little bit of anger and a little bit of pain and and
some questions and I think that it's just it's just this really incredible symbol of
resurgence. That's still to come on unreserved. Part prose part poetry is an intimate
look into the world of the new people in northeastern back and we Fontayne was just
twenty three years old when she wrote this novel in French. It was translated into
English by David Hommel we selected because it takes us to a place in Canada.
That's not often been represented in literature. We see Pan an emu means your move
or your turn. And now it's our turn to discuss this novel in our indigenous reads book
club. Joining me today from Sudbury is poet an educator Gregory Schofield who
recently released his own book of poetry called Witness I am and he's coming out as
from the newsroom at our said Berry C.B.C. station on sacred. Than say thank you
for having me from Victoria is Janet Rogers she is the former poet laureate and her
latest poetry collection is called totem poles and railroads Hello. Say I go hi. And
joining me right here in the reserves studio in Winnipeg is Jade Harper She's the
owner of spirit fusion yoga and a native studies student at the University of Manitoba
welcome Jade. I mean thank you for having me. Like all this a language makes my
heart good. Now. Welcome to you all let me just start with just one beautiful line in

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this amazing beautiful book and it was hard to pick which but you know what you can
find beauty in every single one of these pages a sad song is something from the heart
like the blues. The new language is like music that you saying with slow intonations
that you stretch out further with your breath. There are no vowels and that makes the
language impenetrable like a return to nature harsh all bark and antlers. Now that's
really indicative of what this book is like reading it. It's all feeling it's all poets it's all
it's all just beautiful visioning Now Greg and I start with you as a poet yourself did
you feel that the way. Namely wrote this in the poetic language gave you a sense of
what it was like to live among the you knew. Absolutely. I thought I found myself
really absorbed almost in each page of the book each page of the book seemed like a
poem itself. Yeah. Her incredible vision and the descriptive imagery that she's been
able to. Kind of bring forth in in the story of her community and in her own personal
story and. The story of the land. I felt it was just like I said each page was just so
incredibly that the they were almost I mean in a way if I had to describe them. I
would say that they were very much. Almost like poetic snapshots. Yeah yeah I felt
like that to Janet now as Greg said Naomi paint some really incredible imagery. Of
life with the any of the land for the language she really makes you taste it and feel it
where not only is book was this most strong for you. Well there's so much. It's so
rich and each prose piece reads like a venue yet unto itself. There's visuals there.
There's all of the senses are engaged as you guys have already explained and where I
feel that this is the most strong is is when I recognize that she is giving human
characteristics to inanimate objects she's keeps talking about the relationship between
the people and the places and the objects and the songs in the bodies of water and so
on and so forth and to me. This makes the clear distinction that this is indigenous
writing without question. This is an inside job. This is one who is writing. She is in
and of the subject that she's writing about and for us we get the benefit of these
complete and full vignettes within each page did that that inside job feel familiar to
you. On some levels yes yes it did. Yes the places that she was describing I could
almost feel how lonely those places feel you know and I felt like I wasn't in a big rush
to actually physically go there because of that you know I know what that feels like
on reserves you know. Yeah. Given the descriptions. It's really quite good. Jade
when you were reading go we were talking a lot about feelings and the feeling that
invokes and I see write your book here has got like every second pages of history and

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overeager writing and arrows all over the place. What did you feel as you were
reading the book. Well I thought the book wasn't well credibly role written and it was
very intimate. I loved. Intimacy it was I opened the book and I mediately a sense of
shared experience and so with every flip of the page with everything that I read I was
able to connect it to either something that I had experienced growing up spending a
time on the reserve or even just being in the city and spending time with my family it
was very emotional and yet super funny and I found myself like in almost in tears at
some points and then actually in tears from laughing so it was yeah it was I find it
incredibly powerful and I kind of want to. I want to hang out with Naomi I feel like
her and I should be friends. Well that's always a good place. You know to come from
when a reading a book right now agrees about as every said it's very sparse language
but really beautiful and full and deep and it seems to be easily written right it's easy to
consume it really powerful Greg as somebody who writes like that. You know your
your poems are just amazing and beautiful and such gifts how difficult is it like is it to
write like that. Well I think that you know I don't really look at it in terms of
difficulty I think it's really the way the stories come to you in the way that you hear
those stories in the way that you interpret them. Of course I'm listening. You know as
as as we're talking about Naomi It's incredible work I had actually in the notes that I
had made after reading and while I was reading the book you know I had made some
notes and there was a particular paragraph there was a particular excerpt from the
page that that I would actually like to read right now. That I thought was so
incredibly beautiful and so incredibly resonant and so incredibly visual which really
kind of captures the book The Women are the first to respond to the beat of the draw.
They rise to their feet one. After the other dancing with one foot forward. The back
one slightly bent as if they were limping. Their chant deepens their movements each
slow step. Their hands close to their bodies smiles on their faces. Intuition tightens
the circle. One woman who is more daring than the others. Lets loose with the cry an
Indian woman's cry strong and high pitched. Laughter breaks out as the others echo
her cry. The movements grow stronger some roll their shoulders. They quicken the
beat of their hands against their hips the younger ones follow imitating their parents
the circle widens in the chairs empty. Then the drum slows and with it. The dance.
They applaud the old man and his song which comes from the past eyes meet and
faces are proud this desire to be yourself how gorgeous is that and what reached in

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touch to you about that particular place. Really I think what touch me about this piece
was the visual was the visual of these incredible women in her community this
incredible resilience this incredible strength of people in her community and in
particular the women in her community of course she's coming to this narrative she's
coming to this book from her place as a young in woman. So just that strength that
resilience really sucked with me and the idea of community the idea of culture. The
idea of tradition. Amidst kind of all of the chaos that happens around the community
was really powerful for me. Now Janet as someone who often writes you know in
that place or about that place. Tween strong cultural pride and values in the colonial
oppression that Indigenous people face. How do you feel we see Pan struck that
balance did it did it. Balance it in showing the beauty and the pain. Yeah there. I
didn't get a sense of romanticism. With these pieces they were it's all very lean
writing and I have a great appreciation for lean writing poetry which I think is most
effective when it's at its leanest and what I see that she has done is again. She's
reading from a very in place she names the streets she names the bodies of water. She
names the people sometimes and when you get that insight. It's it's like I feel I felt
like I was being given this gift like I was being given this. Opportunity to have this
insight from her perspective into those communities and the dynamics within those
communities and again without attempting to be romantic. She has been incredibly
poetic with what she's shared with us. And so I have great respect for where the way
that she's written this is to me this is a brand new voice and it's really fresh and I
really welcome it into the fold of indigenous literature because it's it shows that we
can occupy also this prose space and share the beautiful poetry that is. Us as
indigenous people and yet I didn't feel that she was giving something away that she
shouldn't or you know she was she was sharing her truth the truth that is around her as
well and doing it just so expertly. You're a visual thinker. This is this book is
currently in development to turn into a feature film and yet it's so sparse and. You
know you look at me go really. How do you think this will translate from the written
page to the screen. Oh wow. I had no idea it was going to be a film I'm really excited
about that. I think that the way. Naomi really describes what she sees and how she
feels about it and connects all of those very you know short sentences and being able
to put that on screen. I think is going to be. I mean to me reading her words as the
movie is already playing in my head so I guess I'm really excited to see if that's if my

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visuals in my head are actually going to meet up with what they create on screen.
Yeah I think that's incredible. This book is a rigidly written in French and then it was
translated into you new and finally into English. Now I know Greg you have done
something similar when you wrote about Louis you had some French in there. Right
right. Yeah was did you get a sense that English wasn't the original text for good. We
see Pan is there is there a difference you feel between writing with language and
whether it's creepy or French or English into into poems in prose. Well I think that I
mean for me is as a language writer and somebody who who does a lot of writing in
Korea for example. You know I think that there are with quick on with the book
there's definitely. You can definitely see or at least you can kind of define that
translation you can see that interpretation so of course that interpretation going from
French into new and then of course and anguish and I think the really cool thing about
it and with this particular translation for this book. Is that it lends something very
much to kind of the stark landscape of the language that she's using So you know
even conceptually when Nyoman is describing the community or describing people
within the community. Or you know really even describing the land. You know of
course. There is this kind of incredible connection that we end up getting through.
Through not just kind of an English sense of those places or those people but really
kind of a connection to those places so they're in. I felt really really lies the power of
Janet what will you take away from reading this book. Well again you know just this
this new way of writing I think it's. It's so it's so incredibly enjoyable it's it and I get
you know I think I get the title I could be wrong here. But grease the pen with the
English translation meaning your turn or your next means. OK it's it's it's written like
a story circle. She Naomi fun tain stands up. She delivers this little vignette story and
she says OK now your turn. So she's inviting us to something from from where we
come from what an interesting. Well survey should I go to be entirely wrong Rose
and I like that but that's what I was trying to figure out what could the title mean in
reference to the collection and that's kind of what I took away from from it but and
again I didn't know that this was going to be there was plans to create a film out of
these out of these stories as well but my gosh I feel like I've already seen it you know
it's already it's already there. There's there and there's just some some gems like
there's just some gems that if you're to answer your question about what will be taking
away like. None of that none of the pros are titled And so when I reference something

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I have to go to the page number. So I'm page twenty seven. She talks about how
that's in the community and the sounds of of wolves howling and it's night time and
I'll just read the last stanza. The top and the bottom of your body are bare your cheeks
are red your tears are warm you have dreams and say nothing about them in order not
to be afraid you lie down upon the sand the filth the others have been there before you
drunkenness red eyes forget fullness in the night. You see only what your hands can
touch. That last lie heard me. It's absolutely complete in beautiful it is it really is in
such small lines as to you. Flipping through your many dog eared pages there. What
part of you will stay in this book and vice versa. Going back to the language piece as
I learning a good boy. One of the one of my languages. I noticed that while I was
reading it it was like because in the age of the language and like most of indigenous
languages you have the in animates in the an immense sense quite different than
English and so when I was reading this book in English it almost felt like I was
reading it for in a job way but in English. If that makes any sense. But you just
described it so well and I like the you know the page forty one there when we're
talking about the women are the first to respond the beat of the heart. Like this entire
book is adamant like it's taught it's absolutely alive and it was actually after reading
that I'm so glad that Gregory Gregory read that out because that was like my page. I
was like Gregory I have a big heart around then I have a little earful I'd like theirs and
I literally legs like let out a little trill after reading that page. I was in my apartments
and a friend of mine was there and he was just like what are you doing. You have no
idea. I mean and I find it. This entire book about an exploration of ID. And he and I
think that is an indigenous woman I am definitely in a place of trying to figure out
who and what and where and why and I think that we're all in this place and we really
just allowed me to explore that further and it's it allows for laughter and a little bit of
anger and a little bit of pain and some questions and I think that it's just it's just this
really incredible symbol of resurgence and really just taking back and creating space
not creating space but taking space and owning it. And so and that's and that's a big
watch to Naomi for sharing her or her stories because I think they're incredible and I
can't wait for more I feel like one page could be a book and that she could just keep
building and building and I really hope that she does now. Jade since everybody else
has read one of their favorite pages out of the book I'm going to ask you to do the
same. Let's see. Page forty five when they talk about I'll just read it and it talks about

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being on. In her community and they built the Baptist Church in front of the reserves
Catholic Cemetery. The pastor had been talking about it for a while. Bill built it over
the summer and painted it green and white people were talking you could hear words
of discontent and anger the most radical swore they'd burn it down others were
looking for a fight but they weren't looking for Baptists either. And that really
resonated with me because it's to say we've only ever had two options. Our options
have always been so limited and I like to because it said no no we don't want either
that there has to be more and that allowed me to explore that in my mind and really in
just my own my own personal understanding of what I believe or you know what I'm
comfortable being surrounded by. Jade. Thank you so much. Yes Nick watched
thank you for having me. JANET. You're the best. Thank you Greg. You're mine
each of us. Well thank you ever read Gregory Schofield is a poet an educator
currently living in Sudbury Janet Rogers is the former poet laureate in Victoria and
Jade Harper is the owner of spirit fusion yoga and a native studies student at the
University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. By now you know me. Fontaine and translated
by David all Mlle. Is currently in development with Max films incorporated out of.
Wondering what the next title in our indigenous reads book club. Will get your pens
and paper it's a brand new one courtesy of Eden Robinson. She'll join me on the show
next week to talk about sort of the trickster Here's a sneak preview of that
conversation. The land is crucial to my writing. When I think you know in front
Laurence would like make up places of it. She didn't have to set them in her small
town. When I tried to do that it didn't work because I think the power of a story is
that specificity like you know it comes from a certain place in my instance I can
completely understand why you would want to create a fictional. A fictional place. It
gives the community a little more privacy it gives you some leeway. But it didn't
work for me. The humor and heartbreak of Eden. Robinson's latest novel son of a
trickster is the next title on our indigenous reads book club. Every year indigenous
dancers come from across the. Turtle Island and gather at the Heard Museum of the
American Indian art and history in Phoenix Arizona in stunning displays of
physicality creativity rhythm and coordination men and women are competing in the
world championship hoop dance contest. Belles are canned is it three time World
Championship who doubts are and he joins me from Edmonton. Hello Dallas. Hello
how are you doing today. I'm well thank you. That's good. Can you explain for our

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listeners what dancing is. Dancing is an indigenous dance and also one of our art
forms but it's also a healing dance native people we look at it as as a ceremonial dance
that comes from a long line of tradition and culture and history and they say that the
original style of who dance was was a ceremony. So it wasn't actually a performance
like how we see it today. It's not like hooping. It's a dance that where we have the
Aboriginal style of music the power music and while we're dancing we're telling a
story with the hoops and the story were expressing our connection to the natural world
and the world around us and sometimes the story goes beyond what's here on earth
like into the universe like you know I was watching this thing the other day. On how
the earth. Has this magnetic field around it. And it kind of protects us from the sun
solar flares. So I was just thinking. You know there's a lot of things in my hoop
dancing that there isn't really an abstract sort of interpretation and while there isn't
really much of an interpretation of some of the moves that I do and I had this
discussion before with a few people that some of my moves when I'm dancing the
they're on explainable. Who knows what. Same with the other hoop dancers. It's for
the audience to interpret really. So in a nutshell the hoop dance is basically just a
storytelling dance in which we express our self and our tribal beliefs and what we
believe in and our connection to the four elements of Mother Earth the four types of
life the ones. The ones that can fly the ones that can swim the ones that can crawl and
the ones that can walk upon Mother Earth and some hoop dancers dance with a little
as five hoops and some hoop dancers dance with you know as much as thirty to thirty
five hoops Wow. So it's to me it's not about how many hoops you dance with it's what
you do with them when you dance with them and whether or not whether or not it's
exciting and it makes sense and what you're doing is you're taking these hoops in
you're making pictures and stories with them right. While you're dancing shapes and
symbols yes like floral shapes like flowers shapes or globe shapes you know he can
make a hoop and do a globe pretty easy and also there's other shapes too that that
represent for other little little smaller animals and bigger animals like the Buffalo or
the eagle or the butterfly or it or the bear or even is even not an animal even a star or a
teepee or you know anything that is in relation to our story and the biggest thing is
making that connection with the drum and becoming harmonious with it and
becoming one with that and that to me is is the art of the hoop dances. When you can
become unified with the drum and the song and the chanting and the moment. And

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how big are the hoops the hoops or. They vary from dancer to dancer it's based on
body type. I found a more effective way of measuring it through my my arms. So if
that once the hoop is intact or when I'm making constructing the hoop it has to fit
from my hand to basically to. My torso like under my armpit I should be able to hold
that hoop under my arm. Because then it's my body type because I can flip it over my
shoulder and my other shoulders through my body and typically that's the size of the
hoop so from my size my hoops I know. Exactly. They're both twenty four to twenty
five inches. That sounds really complicated I mean you mentioned who dancing I
can't even do that. I can't even do it. I've been a dancer for twenty five years and I
still can do that who you know I don't know maybe I just don't have that kind of
rhythm in my hips seems to be like more of a girl thing because girls have that HIP
movement that you know you just try to do it right now. Yeah we're going to mature.
You know like we go around and I just can't kind the you know. And similar to pal
there's different age categories in who dancing you currently sit in the eighteen to
thirty nine age group and closing in on the senior age group that starts at forty that
sound so weird to say. Do you find it difficult as you get older to keep up with the
younger generation. Was not necessarily keeping up with them. I guess I just have to
keep up with the momentum. I ever created because these younger guys are trying to
catch me you know and they've praised me for years for my contributions to the dance
and you know a lot of a lot of the younger guys have been followed me and sort of
watched my career as a hoop dancer and the way I kind of inspired these younger
folks so I think it's it's not only a responsibility but it's an obligation I guess I have to
have to live up to that you know because they when they come up to me or you know
they mention me and say that I inspired them. I think that's a huge responsibility to
top hold and you know and it is hard but I remember being a young guy to the and.
And my younger years it was hard then to. The training like it's not it's not easy at
any age to train for anything as I thought it because who dancing or being an
Olympian you know you've got to treat it like like that because they do judge it on the
international athletic liker scale based on five categories at the World Championships
they judge you on be timing and rhythm precision originality and creativeness I guess.
You had mentioned the ceremony of the dance and the connection to spirit that you
have how do how do you how does Dallas feel when when he's dancing and what are
you. What are you thinking what are you feeling. There's actually a lot going on and

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and you know who dancers mind when they're dancing because there's a lot of
calculations involved. There's a lot of mathematics going in your mind too because
you've got to count the music you've got to count the beats you've got to be on the
rhythm because the rhythm is it can be pretty complex. You know to some. To the
naked ear somebody that doesn't have a trained ear to indigenous rhythms all you're
hearing is a bunch of pounding on the drum but really it's a lot more complex than
that because there's an up down rhythm to it and then there's a structure to the songs
as well you got to know when the honor beats are coming in and you've got to know
what style of song what style of dance are you are you more of a fancy style dance or
are you more of a grass dancer and then also making the connection with the shapes
that making as I'm hoop dancing. I have to be able to bring those shapes life so in
order to do that I have to connect with the spirit with the eagle What does it mean
what is it what isn't tail when a eagle comes to life. What it what is the responsibility
as a dancer to show that to the audience and how is it connected to everything else in
my routine. So it's a lot of interconnectedness throughout the dance that happens.
And it's a story from beginning to end it shows the evolution of life really. And our
connection to the life around us. What's the greatest gift you feel who dancing has
given you. Well it's given me my independence it's given me the opportunity to to
heal you know and the hoop dancing not only helps me but it also helps other people
too because what I'm doing her show you what you know unlike most I've probably
Sable half of my shows or maybe more than half my shows are to non Indigenous
people to me that is the greatest gift because there's many stereotypes are stigmas
associated with Aboriginal people in Canada. And once they see me I get a grasp of
the hoop dance and witnessing that. To me the greatest gift that that I get out of it is
for them to sort of change their perception and for that for that moment in time. It's a
chance for me to give them a gift that hey we're not all these stereotypes that you
think we are as Aboriginal people sometimes I get standing ovations for the
performances I do and to me that's a really good gift because then I've I've I've broken
through to those people and I've opened their eyes to a world that they really know
nothing about Dallas thank you so much for sharing with us today and good luck at
the championship. Well thank you very much. That was three time world hoop
dancing champion Dallas are candid he'll be competing on February eleventh and
twelfth in Phoenix Arizona. That's it for this week's episode of unreserved well be

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back in this radio. Space next week to bring you more community culture and
conversation. Drop us a line at unreserved at C.B.C. dot ca or find us and like us on
Facebook. We are C.B.C. Radio unreserved this episode was produced by Kim
Wheeler Erica Daniels and an executive producer is Iris you day. Shout outs of love
go out to Margot watt at C.B.C. Manitoba and Corey Haverstock C.B.C. Edmonton. I
mean favorite cousin Rosanna dear child common achey from Winnipeg. Thank you
for listening to I'm reserved on C.B.C. Radio One cent. For more C.B.C. podcasts go
to C.B.C. dot ca slash podcasts.

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